Digital and internet radio services have globally transformed the delivery of audio content. The widespread use of digital formats such as compressed digital content has provided broadcasters with an almost infinite selection of content. When transitioning from one song (or other content) to another, most services do not strategically select content, and build a content sequence based on genre, or play content based on brand, DJ, and/or listener preferences.
Digital and internet services, and other interactive audio and audio-visual delivery services (e.g., such as iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Prime Music, Tidal, YouTube, etc.) generally include a gap between content or, often sub-optimally, overlap or juxtapose a verbal announcement, play a brief commercial, or fade to news, weather, or other information content at any time during a broadcast. Content is disconnected, with audible and visual gaps between the items causing a loss of energy, lack of continuity and disquieting sterility in the primary way in which users consume the content (i.e., through listening and watching). This content experience is undifferentiated, usually offering no way for a consumer to tell one service from another if merely listening. Generally, the listener has no control or influence over the type, content, and frequency of any introduced content element. There is a large potential market for a production engine that creates content to offer a customized playback experience with all or most content individualized for the listener or a target audience. The potential is to improve the experience of consuming the content by focusing on the presentation of the content: improving the flow between elements by adjusting placements; increasing the opportunity for differentiating the experience using personality and branding; dynamically adjusting the amplitudes of adjacent content for a less jarring auditory transition; artfully managing the disparity of energy between content items; and interjecting additional content to create a richer, more engaging overall consumption experience.
Some brands and/or listeners would prefer content playback personalization with broader and more selectable content to define specific moods or energy levels for specified time periods within a broadcast. There is a large potential market for services that offer a fully customized and automated playback experience where the content mood or energy can be customizable to the listener.